Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami on Thursday announced a Commission of Inquiry to probe the death of J Jayalalithaa, the former AIADMK chief who passed away in December 2016.

The Commission of Inquiry will be set up and headed by a retired judge of the Madras High Court, said the CM.

The announcement of probe comes at a time when the talk of a merger between the factions of AIADMK have resurfaced.

CM Palaniswami also announced that Jayalalithaa’s Poes Garden residence here will be turned into a memorial that will be run by the government.

Interestingly, the announcements made by the CM, are the same ones that O Panneerselvam had been demanding since the party chief’s death. These were Panneerselvam’s preconditions for a merger with the rival Palaniswami faction of the party.

With his demands met, a merger between the two factions seem more likely than ever. The party had split soon after Jayalalithaa’s death.

Panneerselvam has been vocal his suspicions about foul play in Jayalalithaa’s death, who died after being in a hospital for 75 days.

Panneerselvam has also vocally criticised V K Sasikala and her nephew T T V Dhinakaran who had taken over the reins of the party after Jayalalithaa’s death. Panneerselvam had also demanded the expulsion of both of them from the party.

Hailing Jayalalithaa’s contribution to Tamil Nadu, he said following representations from a cross-section of people, her residence at Poes Garden will be turned into a government memorial and opened for public viewing.

Palaniswami was flanked by senior cabinet colleagues, Finance Minister D Jayakumar, Forest Minister Dindigul C Srinivasan and Power Minister P Thangamani when he made the announcement.